Adam Zampa shared his views on player payments after completing a two-year move to the Hobart Hurricanes ahead of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2026-27 season. The 34-year-old spinner said overseas players still receive the better financial deals in the BBL despite recent changes to the contracting system.
Notably, the league has scrapped the overseas player draft and approved private investment in its franchises, while changes to the salary cap are expected to create more opportunities for Australian players. However, many leading domestic players remain tied to existing contracts with BBL franchises.
Adam Zampa Questions BBL Contracting Balance
Adam Zampa said domestic players had hoped the changes to BBL contracting would work in their favour. However, he feels overseas players have continued to benefit from the new system, despite local players expecting a bigger share of the available money.
“I think I was always playing the BBL,” Zampa said. “There's obviously been a lot behind the scenes happening with overseas drafts and money, and the local players hoping for it to land somewhere in their favour. So there was always a little bit of that discussion happening in the background.
“It's probably not landed exactly where we thought it might. I think the overseas players are still getting the good end of the deal. But I'm happy with my decision. As soon as the embargo lifted, I was pretty keen to sign with Hobart. I think I've made a really good choice.”
‘The Draft’s Gone’: Adam Zampa Explains Why Local Players Feel Shortchanged
Ben Stokes has signed a lucrative deal with the Adelaide Strikers, while New Zealand opener Finn Allen is among the high-profile overseas players. Adam Zampa said that overseas talent has strengthened the BBL, but the current system has left some established Australian players feeling shortchanged.
“I think it's potentially just a niggly situation that both parties are in, and I think having players of really good standard, Australian cricket team standard, under contract has kind of made them more powerful in that sense as well,” he said.
“The draft's gone, and that money, instead of having slots for each player, then you can potentially go and pay more for good overseas, and then have less overseas, which is kind of what's happened, and it's kind of against the point as to what the local players think we kind of deserve.”
‘The People That Are at Hobart’: Adam Zampa Explains Hurricanes Move
Adam Zampa said that the people at the Hobart Hurricanes played a major role in his decision to join the franchise. With several familiar faces already in the squad, the Australian spinner felt he could settle in quickly and enjoy the kind of team environment he was looking for in the BBL.
“Being one of the only players in the Australian team that was off contract, there was definitely discussions with other teams,” he said. “[But] once it got to crunch time, I spoke with [Nathan Ellis, Hurricanes captain] a little bit … the people that are at Hobart kind of sparked my interest in what I wanted to get out of playing the Big Bash. I think I've gone to a lot of teams for the people that are there and that's always an important decision in my decision-making.
“I think that's really important for that connection and also feeling like I can seamlessly go into a team without feeling like I'm out of place a little bit. To have [Ellis] as captain and TD [Tim David], and playing a bit with Riley Meredith and Ben McDermott, Mitch Owen, so there's seven or eight guys there that I've played a lot of cricket with.”
Zampa becomes only the fourth player in BBL history to represent five different franchises. He has previously played for Sydney Thunder, Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades. Zampa has taken 138 wickets from 121 BBL matches at an average of 23.42 and an economy rate of 7.28.
